Four Liebherr Tower Cranes Raise the 200-Metre Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Athens, Europe’s Largest Private Construction Project
On the grounds of the former Hellinikon airport, right on the Athens Riviera, one of Europe’s biggest construction projects is rising fast — and Liebherr tower cranes are doing the heavy lifting. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Athens, a development worth around €1.85 billion, will top out at roughly 200 metres, making it one of the tallest buildings in Greece and the first fully integrated resort and casino on the European mainland.
Four cranes on the tower
Main contractor TERNA S.A. is relying on Liebherr for every lift during the structural phase, from the base slab to the uppermost of the tower’s 42 storeys. Four cranes are working on the tower itself: a 202 EC-B 10 Litronic, a 250 EC-B 12 Litronic, a 258 HC-L Fibre and a 230 HC-L, backed up by additional EC-B and EC-H units elsewhere on site.
The mix is no coincidence. The EC-B flat-top cranes, with jib radii of up to 80 metres, feed materials across the lower and intermediate floors, while the HC-L luffing-jib cranes take over where high-rise construction gets tight: as the tower climbs, slewing space shrinks, and a luffing jib is needed to place loads close to the structure and within the building’s footprint.
Wind off the Saronic Gulf
The seafront location adds an extra challenge. The coastal climate of the Saronic Gulf generates considerable wind loads, which have to be factored in as the cranes climb along with the advancing structure. Combined with a tight three-year programme for the structural works and a complex sequence of steel and concrete operations, lifting capacity and uptime are critical.
Liebherr Tower Crane Solutions helped engineer the crane configuration together with the TERNA site team, while Stagakis LTD, Liebherr’s sales and service partner in Greece, supplied the cranes and handles local support.
“The collaboration with the Liebherr Tower Crane Solution was excellent and we are highly satisfied with the crane solutions delivered.”
— Spokesperson, TERNA S.A.
Part of The Ellinikon
Construction started in March 2025 and completion is scheduled for December 2028. The finished resort — a joint development of Hard Rock International and Greece’s GEK TERNA Group — will offer around 1,100 hotel rooms, a casino with 180 gaming tables and 1,500 slot machines, a conference centre, a concert venue, restaurants and a Rock Spa, totalling 123,500 m² of floor area. It forms the centrepiece of The Ellinikon, the urban redevelopment of the long-abandoned airport site, which is expected to draw up to 15,000 visitors a day and create some 3,000 permanent jobs.
Source: Liebherr — Photos: Liebherr
Project facts
- Project: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Athens
- Investment: ± €1.85 billion
- Height: ± 200 m, 42 storeys
- Hotel rooms: ± 1,100
- Casino: 180 tables, 1,500 slots
- Floor area: 123,500 m²
- Contractor: TERNA S.A.
- Construction: 3/2025 – 12/2028
Cranes on site
- 202 EC-B 10 Litronic
- 250 EC-B 12 Litronic
- 258 HC-L Fibre
- 230 HC-L
- + additional EC-B & EC-H units